Hip Hop Yoga Kicks Ass
Friday, July 31st, 2009Today I felt happy & decided to just revel in it. Sometimes the sensation of “happy” in my world is met with “uh oh, better worry about what will take this good feeling away” and so gets totally trounced & not really enjoyed. No way, not this time, baby!
After the home warm-up, went to Lynne’s (the Back Bay owner) Hip Hop Yoga class today and my god it was fun. Loud, rude, thumpin’ music & the ability to relax, shake it, whump, thump & let it all hang out, be funky & weird & vibrant was soooo totally necessary — catharsis through a strong beat is so satisfying.
Forrest is practiced without music to make it easier to focus on the breath, the internal experience & what the teacher is saying, but self-practice to music is the bomb. (Do people still say that anymore? I do. : ) For those who don’t know (and several students & travel companions are all too aware of this : ), my practice when I’m cuttin’ loose & not following a DVD/MP3 is done to Linkin Park, Mute Math, Foo Fighters, Iron Maiden, 3 Doors Down, Guns ‘n’ Roses, Metallica, 80′s pop and, of course, the Chipmunks. Really, if you haven’t done handstands to G’n'R or sun salutes to the Chipmunks doing “Witch Doctor,” or “Funkytown,” you’re missin’ out. : )
Fun result is of course that being so loose mentally & in such a laid back space really really really translates to loosening up fear/inhibitions/tightness & totally juices up the practice with happy hormones to the point where some poses I might get stuck on are much easier.
Plus, she gave two songs of “free for all” where you could just play with whatever you wanted to. I did some classes while in Goa, India that were like that — teacher warmed you up & then set you off — & it brought back some really good memories of an open-air shala with mosquito-netting for walls/ceiling & a cat mascot at the shoe storage bin.
Rest of the day is pretty prosaically productive (alliteration, also fun! : ) with trips to Goodwill, housecleaning, car inspection… blah blah blah, but all with undercurrent hum of happy hip hop!